


Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide

by grumpyfrumpy



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 18:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14171235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpyfrumpy/pseuds/grumpyfrumpy
Summary: Fareeha struggles with nightmares but is silent about them, until one day, it's all too much.





	Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide

It was not a common occurrence for Fareeha to have nightmares. So whenever she did, it was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. But most times, she was alone and that was fine. Fareeha would much rather suffer alone than anyone see her at her weakest.

Since the death of her mother, Fareeha had built a wall around herself, insisting that she was fine, that she was strong and would only grow stronger. It seemed that she was lying not only to her friends and to the rest of Overwatch, her family, but she was lying to herself too.

_Fareeha was strong_ ; she went on to join the army, and was more than capable to join Overwatch, something she had wanted to do since she was a young girl. However, the disbanding of the organisation had shattered that dream.

_Or had it…_

“Fareeha, what are you thinking about?”

The young woman glanced over her shoulder, noticing Angela standing right behind her. She gave Fareeha a smile, one that filled the latter with warmth.

“Oh, sorry… Just got lost in thought.”

Angela gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder, before ushering her to bed. Sometimes, it was hard for her to put behind that Fareeha was no longer that little girl that Angela used to run into whenever she came to the Watchpoint as a student, and old habits really did die hard.

“I’m not a baby, Angela.” Fareeha chuckled, but allowed the shorter woman to lead her to bed. Angela simply put on what everyone called her ‘ _doctor face_ ’ and shook her head at her.

“No, but you do need to sleep properly if you’re going to train all day like you said you would.”

Fareeha smiled as she sat down on the bed. There were some good things that had happened in the last few months. Running into Angela in Iraq after being relieved of her services to Helix, she learned that Overwatch had initiated a recall, which meant it called back all living agents to the watchpoint to come together once again. This was obviously illegal, meaning it had to be done in the utmost secrecy.

But knowing she could be trusted, Angela allowed Fareeha to come back with her. The younger woman had nothing else now, and she was glad that her services would perhaps prove useful to Overwatch. Also, her and Angela were now in some sort of relationship, but that was a story for another time.

The horrors of Anubis, of all the soldiers Fareeha had lost, the ghost of her mother, it all still haunted her. And she needed to keep herself busy to not think about it.

However, nothing could stop Fareeha from dreaming.

_Fareeha remembers it so well, like it had happened only yesterday._

_When the strike team had come back, and her mother was not there. She looked at Jack, and he simply looked away, and that’s when she knew. Her mother was dead._

_She remembers how she had run off and hidden somewhere only Jesse could find her, but even then she had not cried. And even when everyone got together for the funeral, Fareeha had not shed a single tear. All she could feel was…_

_Nothing. She felt numb._

_After Fareeha joined the army, her officers worked her to the bone. She remembers the way everyone screamed at her and her fellow soldiers whenever there was something amiss. But still, she was numb._

_“It’s just a dream.” Fareeha told herself as the memory of her time in the army dematerialised. She was now surrounded by black, her path unclear._

_She found herself wearing her Raptora suit, reliving the death of captain Khalil. She knew the mission to contain Anubis once more had been a success, but this time, everyone around her was dying. The mission was failing and she needed to get to the firewall somehow._

_It wasn’t real, there was no way that it was real._

_Saleh first, and finally Tariq. As the last soldier fell to the ground, and all the omnic started to surround the young lieutenant, she could do nothing but try to fly. Her boosters weren’t working. Shit._

_So she started to run. Fareeha could only run, she couldn’t fight them alone. She was all alone. Nowhere to hide._

_As she ran out of that memory, her clothes changed back to normal. She poked her arm, trying to wake up, but it wasn’t working. Was this really a dream?_

_The omnics were chasing her, and one of them finally grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks._

“Fareeha-”  
“Don’t- leave me alone!”

_They turned her around, and she was face to face with a large dog-like robot, its red eyes glowing at her brightly. Fareeha was held in place by two other omnics, and she looked at the large dog in front of her with fear as she struggled to get out of their grip._

“Fareeha, wake up, please-”

_The omnic brought up a large drill, a whirring noise echoing in her ears and she noticed rotating silver come straight for her eyes, and Fareeha moved about more violently, trying to loosen their hold._

_The weapon was coming closer, closer, closer-_

_And then nothing._

Fareeha woke up screaming, immediately finding herself in someone’s arms and she held onto the person tightly, sobbing in their chest, beside herself. Every bit of her was consumed by fear, every single time this dream came back, she was alone, forced to remain strong and pretend like this didn’t affect her.

But the truth was it did, and to find someone by her side to hold her, to maybe comfort her, the endless recurring nightmare and the stress it brought her, all of it was too much for Fareeha to bear, and she couldn’t stop the tears as she hid her face in Angela’s shoulder, holding on tight as she could because finally, someone was here to hold her, and they wouldn’t let go.

“Fareeha, you’re okay.” Angela’s soothing voice filled Fareeha’s ears and tried to bring her out of her panic. “It was just a nightmare. It isn’t real.”

All Fareeha could do was nod, still unable to tear herself away from Angela’s embrace. It felt so safe, and so warm from what was otherwise a cold and unforgettable nightmare.

And Angela was still hugging her tightly, making sure that Fareeha was completely calm. It felt like endless hours before Angela finally pulled away and looked at her.

“Do you want to talk about it, Fareeha?” Angela asked as she reached over for a bottle of water, twisting off the cap and holding it to her lips. “Drink up. Crying makes you dehydrated, so you’ll feel better.”  
“I doubt it.” Fareeha murmured, but allowed Angela to do her thing. She had also pulled out a handkerchief from her drawer (was this woman always prepared for everything?) to wipe the sweat away from her face.

“You don’t always have to be strong, Fareeha.” Angela said suddenly, making the younger woman look to her. “I know you love to tell us that ‘Everything is fine’, but sometimes it isn’t, and that’s okay.”   
“But… My Mom’s always said that you need to be strong for the people that you love.”

Angela sighed, pushing the hair out of her face. “Yes. You are strong. But that doesn’t mean forcing yourself to believe everything is fine when sometimes it isn’t.”

Angela held Fareeha close to her again, hugging her as tight as she could. “Admitting to your troubles doesn’t make you weak, my love.”

Fareeha sighed into Angela’s chest, nodding at her words. She was right,  _of course_  she was right. Why was Fareeha hiding away from this? Pretending that it would all be okay when that only made it worse?

“I’m sorry. It’s always been easier to ignore this.”

Angela gently kissed the top of her head, and slowly whispered, “Please don’t hide it from me, Fareeha. I know it’s always easier to ignore it, but it’s not healthy, and it’ll break you down more.  _Please_. Talk to me whenever you feel like this or if you have nightmares again.”

Fareeha’s heart was breaking at hearing the pain in Angela’s voice, and she pulled away slowly, looking at her.

“I… can’t say I won’t ignore it, but I’ll do my best to talk more about it, and how I feel.”

Angela gave her a small smile. This wasn’t the answer, but at least it was a start. She leaned forward, pressing her lips against Fareeha’s. The taste of salty tears and lip balm lingered, but that wasn’t a worry for either of them right now.

“Let’s go out tomorrow. Away from the watchpoint.” Angela whispered as they laid back down against their pillows, their bodies tangled under the sheets. “Away from this mess, from Overwatch. Just for a day.”  
“Well…” Fareeha pursed her lips in thought, before glancing to Angela with a playful grin. “It is Valentine’s, after all.”

Angela’s cheeks turned pink, obviously having forgotten about it, and she slowly nodded. “Y-Yes, it is the fourteenth, you’re right.”   
“Okay. We can go out tomorrow, and…”  
“We’ll figure it out.” Angela completed the sentence, planting a kiss on Fareeha’s cheek. “For now, we should probably try and sleep.”

The look on the medic’s face turned stern, and Fareeha frowned as she closed her eyes slowly.

“Yes, Doctor.” 

**Author's Note:**

> \- Fareeha doesn't know Ana is still alive  
> \- This is post-Recall  
> \- This is probably taking place at Watchpoint: Gibraltar  
> \- If you're confused about Fareeha's nightmares, it would be helpful to read her official comic "Mission Statement"  
> \- Thank you so much for reading and I hope you liked it <3


End file.
